


The Mundane Things

by Masterpwn



Series: Ordinary Everything [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Aliens, Alternate Universe - Pete's World, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-23
Updated: 2015-05-15
Packaged: 2018-03-08 17:13:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 10,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3217103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masterpwn/pseuds/Masterpwn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Funny, it's always the smallest things that seem like the biggest adventures. Always the most inconspicuous of moments that seem so important. Always the tiniest pockets of time that hold the most joy. This is the greatest adventure he's ever had, because he can have it with Rose Tyler. A series of shorts about Tentoo and Rose's new life in the parallel universe, all from Tentoo's perspective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> I know I'm working on both _Ten Seconds_ and _Welcome to the House!_ , but my muse hit me with a couple of these and I couldn't ignore them. Whenever my muse hands me one of these, I'll write it down, but I'm still focusing on the other two. (These are entirely improvised, I am not sure how many there will be, but surprisingly, my muse has handed me a loose plot, so there will be something bigger eventually.)
> 
> Not beta-d, so all the glorious mistaken mistakes are my own.
> 
> This work can also be found on Teaspoon.

_I love you._

With three words, the start of a new adventure began. An adventure he never thought he could have. Even now, waiting on the cold Norwegian beach, he feels as if it's all still a dream.

His superior senses have mostly abandoned him, but not entirely. Approximately twenty-three minutes have passed since the Old Girl disappeared from this universe for the final time. Twenty-three minutes since the final wheezing groan faded from their ears. Twenty-three, no, twenty-four now, since he held her hand. She's sitting right next to him on the bare stone facing the sea.

He looks over at her. Her thoughts are far away, still chasing that box between universes.

He reaches out, palm up, offering his hand again. He prays to everything, begs the universe for this one thing, after all he's lost. He can't take it if Rose doesn't want him. If she'll always be yearning for the whole Time Lord.

She simply stares at it for a long time.

His single heart is beating hard now, hammering against his ribs. She needs time, he understands suddenly, and begins to return it to his side. Quickly she reaches out and takes it, holding on for dear life.

She looks at him for a moment... and a small smile graces her face. He returns it, beaming like an idiot because the lost look in her eyes fades in just that moment. Then a certain sadness returns to them, a sadness he feels too, and she scoots closer. The smiles quickly slip from their faces. Resting her head on his shoulder, they wait for the zeppelin to arrive.

A new adventure.


	2. On Our Way Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the zeppelin ride back to London, the Doctor starts thinking a little too much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are a bit angsty right now, but they're going to be more humourous and fluffy later on.

The low humming of the engine was lulling him to sleep. He snaps his eyes open again. To sleep? Shaking his head to try and wake himself up, he sits up and looks around the cabin of the zeppelin that is taking them home. Or to their homes. Stupid mostly human body making him tired.

Pete and Jackie are over in their own corner. He wonders where Rose is. He starts thinking too much.

A single heart. One life. He feels panic creeping up on him, begins fidgeting in his seat. A house, with carpets. Windows, doors, a mortgage. This is all wrong. He misses the feel of his time ship in his mind. The hollow space feels so vast, it's so empty.

The seat next to him is suddenly filled and a hand takes hold of his own. He looks at her face, concern written all over it. He realises his face must be filled with terrible emotion and he smiles. A smile that can't truly reach his eyes.

"Everything will be alright, yeah? You're gonna be fine," she tells him softly.

"We're stuck here!" he says shakily, choking on his own words. Away from everything, this is all wrong.

She gives his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Stuck with you, 's not so bad."

He calms down. One life. One life with Rose Tyler. "Not so bad at all," he agrees.


	3. A New Name, A New Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The name "Doctor" doesn't work well with official paperwork, so he'll need a new one.

"Won't the Doctor do fine?" he whines again.

Pete shakes his head. "I'm sorry Doctor, but you'll need an actual name, and not John Smith," he says with a pointed glare. They've gathered in Pete's office in Torchwood tower, only a scarce few know his true origins. Rose, Pete, Jackie, himself, Jake Simmonds, and one other whose names escapes his mind currently.

They're forging documents so that he'll be a part of society good and proper. He's going to have a complete education, they'll get him a doctorate in any subject matter he chooses, despite offering him a job at Torchwood.

The year here is 2015 and his "birth date" is 1985, November 23, making him about 30. Only _technically_ of course. Jackie had still put up a fuss about age gaps and all, since it's "obvious you two are still over the moon for each other" as she put it. Eventually he made the point that he was _technically_ over nine hundred years old and still born three days ago. From a severed hand. Jackie had let it drop.

He thinks about what his new name shall be. Everyone waits. Finally he comes to a decision.

"In honour of my greatest friend," he announces, "My name will be John Noble."

Rose gives him a knowing look as his eyes meet hers. He's told her about Donna, how her mind could never have sustained a Time Lord consciousness. She'd as good as died that day. They both ache for her, she'd never remember a thing.

She moves over and takes his hand. He holds onto it for dear life, just as they did three days ago, just as they will be doing for a long time.


	4. The Best Things Come in Small Packages

They're taking a Torchwood issue van out to Rose's flat.

He takes it out of his pocket and stares in wonder at it. Rose stares with him.

Such a minute chunk of TARDIS.

They could grow it in their life times and that's what he intends to do. To take them out to the stars for the final leg of their great journey. He looks at her. Maybe one day they could have... He blinks. Let that day come by itself, in it's own time. Ever so slowly it will come, but he's hoping it will be worthwhile, this slow path.

She reaches out and strokes it. It purrs ever so lightly in his mind and tears of joy reach his face. Rose looks up to find him crying.

"Doctor?" she asks voice full of concern, "What's wrong?"

He shakes his head and starts laughing quietly. "Nothing is wrong." He falls silent and pats it. It makes little grinding sounds telepathically, louder than the purring.

Rose's eyes widen. "I heard her!"

"Everything is right," he tells them both. "Everything is just right."


	5. With Carpets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carpets and windows and mortgages! Oh my!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE: Changed some dates around, from the original 2012 to 2015 to match up with a later thing. Sorry about that.

"Are you okay with this?" asks Rose again.

She has a flat closer to the Torchwood tower rather than living in the Tyler mansion and he's been invited to live in it. He readily agreed. Now faced with said flat, he is very hesitant.

"Yeah," he affirms.

"But..." she encourages him, sensing his hesitance.

"But it's- it's-" he stammers then falls silent.

"Got carpets?"

He nods, sporting his perfect pouting face.

"C'mon," she says, grabbing his hand and pulling him farther in. It's a small place. There a kitchen, sitting room, spare room, and a single en suite in her room. He's puzzling why there's two rooms but one loo.

"Have to share that," she says, not seemingly concerned at all. They return to the guest room. It's bare except for a bed and an empty dresser.

"I'll take this room for the night then?" he asks.

She flushes a bit pink. "Erm... Yeah, yeah," she glances away. "You can stay for more than just tonight, daft alien," she tells him quietly.

He smiles, feeling very reassured. Yes. They're certain, he will stay.

It's late, so they prepare for bed. The Doctor doesn't have any night clothes, so he sleeps in his pants, a fluffy duvet to keep him warm. Rose tells him they will go shopping tomorrow.

He cringes. Shopping. Heaving a sigh at this near future prospect, he settles in and drifts off. Tomorrow is a lovely idea, though. The human race, so hopeful of the next day. He's glad he can be here tomorrow.


	6. I'm Not Blowing This One Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose takes the Doctor clothes shopping.

He's staring at row upon row of shirts, idling by a cart stuffed to the brim with things they'll be needing. Clothes, toiletries, groceries, and various bric-a-brac.

"You can't keep staring at them all day," Rose tells him as she drops a package of socks in it.

He shakes his head and grabs random plain colours off the tables.

She pats his shoulder lightly to get his attention as he deposits them in the basket. He turns to look at her.

She's handing him a hoodie. A _TARDIS blue_ hoodie. He takes it and beams at her.

She returns it wordlessly, a tongue-touched smile brightening her features.

Suddenly, he ducks his head and places a chaste kiss on her cheek.

She flushes pink and he turns back to the cart, a smug smile on his face, directing it to the checkout line. Only HE will be the one to made her turn such a lovely shade of pink, his pink and yellow girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Muse's skills at strange are possibly unparalleled, he's done it again. While these are entirely improvised, I'm not planning a single one, my muse has given me the finale of the whole verse before I even published this sixth chapter. (By no means does it mean there will be very few.) I could slap Muse, but then he'd stop giving me these.


	7. Say My Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Folding clothes is hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. The title is named after a totally irrelevant song.

"Roooooose!" he begins complaining. He can't seem to figure out how to fold the multitude of shirts, and if they're not folded, how can he put them away?

After a moment, she enters his room and takes it from his hands. "Like this," she tells him.

He watches in earnest as she expertly folds the article of clothing and places it in the drawer.

She stands there as he takes his turn and epically fails in his attempt. Then she giggles.

He looks at her sheepishly.

"Oh Doctor-"

"John," he interrupts quietly.

"What?"

"Call me John," he tells her. Every time she says 'Doctor' he can't help but think of that blue box and the emptiness in his mind hurts so bad.

She pauses and seems to be dissecting what he said, debating.

He gives her his best puppy dog eyes and hopes the pain in them really isn't showing through.

Finally she acquiesces. "John."

He smiles sadly then turns back to sorting the mounds of clothing they had purchased.

"John," she whispers as she exits the room, tasting the word.


	8. Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> About one week after the shopping trip.

John's in the kitchen, making them both tea whilst waiting for dinner to finish cooking. They've invited Jackie and Pete over, and they're bringing Tony. Suddenly, he turns and catches Rose staring. She flicks her eyes upward quickly.

"See something you like?" he asks, sending her a flirtatious smirk.

She turns pink and attempts to seize her cup of tea. He stands between her and the counter, however, and it turns into a playful wrestling match very quickly.

"John!" she scolds, trying too hard not to laugh to sound serious.

He simply catches her, pins her arms at her sides, and pulls her into his embrace.

She wiggles her arms free and wraps them around his neck. They're both giggling hysterically.

He debates with himself for a second before leaning down. Her breath hitches sightly, but just then the doorbell rings and they quickly step apart, both faces flushing varying shades of red.

"I'll just umm... I'll go get it," he tells her and flees the room. He feels the need to lock Jackie in a cupboard for the duration of her stay.

He walks down the hall and opens the door, finding himself immediately caught up in a maelstrom of Tyler Woman.

"Well, if it isn't himself then," she says rather loudly before wrapping him up in a hug.

"Put me down! Put me down!" he complains quietly whilst trying to get away.

Pete squeezes by and Tony goes running off to find Rose.

Finally Jackie lets him go and he turns to flee down the hall.

"ROSIE!" yells Tony as she sets her cuppa down and scoops him up in a big hug.

He sneaks back into the kitchen to check on the food, make more tea, and find his own tea again.

"-and he's wearing normal clothes! No more of that ridiculous suit then?" he hears Jackie say in the other room.

"Oi!" he calls, "Don't knock it!" He joins them in the sitting room and peers over at the table. Everything's already set, so he hands cups of tea to Jackie and Pete.

"Thanks love," she says.

"So," begins Pete, "Settling in well?"

He nods. "Yeah."

He sits in an armchair facing the television and turns slightly in his seat to face them on the couch where Jackie, Pete, and Rose have snugly squeezed into place.

"JOHNNY!" yells Tony and he launches himself at John full force from whatever place he happened to be cleverly hiding in plain sight. The flying almost-five year-old flings himself unceremoniously onto his lap. With an "oof" and some readjustment, Tony winds up sitting comfortably on his leg, snuggled up against him.

"Hey Tony," he says, for the lack of anything better to say.

"Thinking about taking that job offer up?" asks Pete, who seems determined to get him to join them.

"Dad, let him settle a bit first," Rose complains.

John nods anyways. "I have. Thought about it, I mean."

"Well, you'd be the best, you're the expert," he says carefully, aware of Tony who is currently trying to poke John in the face.

John smacks his hand lightly and he stops. "Give me a few days, then we'll see."

Pete nods and they turn the conversation to less serious topics.

—————————————————————

"This is good!" exclaims Jackie upon trying the food. "Who cooked it?"

John raises his hand silently.

"I thought Rose said you couldn't cook."

He shrugs his shoulders. "Must be the Donna part I guess. Maybe. It's possible I had hidden skills somewhere."

Jackie shakes her head. "I still don't get that," she says, confusion evident.

"Neither do I," mumbles John.

Tony starts flinging kernels of corn at John and Jackie smacks his hand.

"Stop that," she scolds.

He wipes the buttery spots off his face where the kernels impacted, wondering why he's always the target for Tony's strange acts. "Why me?" complains John and both Tony and Rose giggle. He glares at Rose, they're obviously conspiring against him.

Eventually they finish dinner and there are hugs and kisses and promises of phone calls and that John really should think about that offer and then they're all out the door, Tony saying about how "Uncle" Johnny (Where did that come from?) is from another planet. Jackie told him that such an idea was silly and the door was closed and he slumped against it.

He eventually joins Rose on the couch, where she's nursing her third glass of wine and beginning to nod off. She looks ready to drop actually.

He reaches over and puts his hand on her shoulder. "Tired?"

She nods.

He gently takes the mostly empty glass from her and sets it on the coffee table, then takes her hand and helps her up.

She smiles brightly at him, gently leaning on him in a playful manner as they take the short walk back to her room.

He beams as he hugs her. "Goodnight Rose."

"Goodnight John," she says, hesitating almost imperceptibly before saying his name.

She's still uncomfortable with it. He lets her go and she enters her room, closing the door behind her. He sighs for multiple reasons (definitely not all bad) and goes to clean up everything.


	9. I'm on the Job! -I-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few days after dinner.

"Pete!" calls John excitedly.

He's had Rose ring him up, since he doesn't have a mobile of his own yet.

Pete greets him then asks, "Something you need John?"

He nods despite being on the phone. Rose giggles at his silliness.

"Yep!" he says, popping the 'p'. "I'm going to take that job at Torchwood, but I need one thing first, and I'm going to need a lot of things later."

"What are those then?" he asks.

"First, I'm going to need certain parts for a sonic screwdriver. We'll get to the later things later."

"Whatever you need, you've got it."

John smiles again. "Molto bene! Rose is going to drive me there tomorrow."

"Looking forward to it."

They say their farewells and ring off.

The next day, John dons his old blue suit for some familiarity (and for the bigger-on-the-inside pockets).

When they finally get to Torchwood tower, Pete and Jake are there to greet them.

Rose hugs Pete and John shakes his hand.

"I'll just get on with building that screwdriver."

Pete nods his agreement. "Part of your job will be sorting through the archives," he tells him. "Figuring out what everything is," he lowers his voice. "Most of it we have no idea."

John gives him a knowing smile. At least he admits it.


	10. I'm on the Job! -II-

Rose is standing by his side handing him parts as he assembles his new screwdriver. It is going to look a lot like the old one.

"Hand me the Electron Manipulation Matrix," he tells her.

She looks at the gadgets in her hand.

"The round thing," he clarifies.

She hands him the round thing.

He carefully attaches it the the central column, then places a cap over the whole thing before sliding it into the case to concentrate the emitted sound waves.

"Emission Module," he requests.

"You mean the lighty-up part?" she asks.

"Yes. The lighty-up part," he says, sighing internally.

She hands it to him and he welds it to the the screwdriver with an alien micro-welder.

"Done!" he exclaims excitedly, detaching it from the frame that held it in place. He holds it out proudly for Rose to examine.

She takes it from him and examines it carefully, turning it this way and that. She adjusts it to a certain setting and hands it back, smiling shyly.

He takes it back and recognises the setting. 2428D, reattaching barbed wire. He looks back up, smiling gently. The first time he handed her his sonic. He's surprised she remembered that and he loves her all the more for it.

Making a quick decision (and making sure there's nobody around to interrupt), he rises from his seat and takes her face in his hands, and places a soft kiss, lighter than a feather, on her lips.

He begins pulling back, but she wraps her free hand behind his head and pulls his face back down. After a brief pause from surprise (She's kissing him back!), he wraps his arms around her waist and hears the remaining gizmos clattering on the floor before she buries her other hand in his hair.

She deepens the kiss and he makes a pleased sound in the back of his throat before eventually pulling back to breath. He pulls her close to him again, burying his face in her hair.

She hugs him back, smiling into his shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! Finally, some smooching. Why? Because smooching. (As requested by a Teaspoon reader.)


	11. I'm on the Job! -III-

Warehouses upon warehouses of alien tech. They have no idea what any of it does though. It's become his job to sort through and catalogue it all. Suddenly it seems like such a massive task.

He's walking through shelves upon shelves piled high with boxes and loose tech everywhere. Pete, Jake, and the two scientists who will be working with him follow close behind.

He reaches out, snatches up a plain black tube and whips out his newly made sonic screwdriver. Oh so carefully, he unseals it and sticks his thumb and forefinger in. He's holding his breath

The Torchwood scientists immediately open their mouths to complain but Pete waves at them to be quiet. "He knows what he's doing," he whispers to them quietly. He ignores them.

Ever so slowly, he pulls a thin wire-looking object out of the tube. With a final tug, the strip of metal comes loose. Then he looks up and smiles.

"Sorry," he apologises, "Had to disarm this Ditrian pipe bomb. Lucky you lot never dropped it! Would've leveled this whole facility, imagine the chain reaction of dangerous things that would blow up too!"

The scientists exchange glances.

He hands the now useless tube to Pete, slipping the "fuse" into his pocket. Don't want them figuring out how to rearm it.

He keeps walking between shelves, making odd comments like: "Oh, blimey, another hair dryer," or "Ah! A Neeklian toaster! Best in five different galaxies!" and taking things and slipping them into his pockets for later which everyone keeps complaining about. He tells them that they're some of the things he'll be needing for later. Pete warns him he will have to keep them in the tower unless express permission is given otherwise. He assures him he'll work on his project here.

Occasionally he'll disable or disarm highly unstable weaponry and other dangerous technology.

"A Harnitarn warp engine," he starts upon seeing one of their larger pieces of tech. Upon examination, he sees that they've been trying to reactivate it. "One of the most dangerous in the universe, they have to be disassembled after only a few years of service, they don't do well in storage either, or their high power levels go critical. Big explosion. Goodbye London." With some convincing, he persuades them to take it apart, promising to build (or modify an existing engine into) something better. It took them three hours to safely destroy it.

Finally he finishes his initial inspection.

"Okay," he says, "I'll definitely be able to help here. There's still a lot of things that aren't entirely safe, but aren't a high priority right now, so they can wait. Weeell, they can wait a long while. Weeell, I say long while, but I should get to those tomorrow."

"Right!" exclaims Pete, turning to lead them away, "Papers to be filled out."

They begin filing back out into the hall.

John sighs. _Paperwork._


	12. I'm on the Job! -IV-

Hours. They spent _hours_ filling out paperwork, getting passes and keys. Finally it was finished, and Pete gave him a complete tour of the building. Pete's office is near the top and he shows John labs and whole floors of nothing but cubicles (he's assured that he's not going to be stuck in a cubicle) and offices and storage rooms and security posts.

He's brought to his own office (he gets a whole office!) and it's on the same floor as Rose's workplace (Sub 1), where she and her team train, plan missions, have debates with superiors and all sorts of things. It's also where they get coffee. The lower floors (Sub 2-Sub 7) are all warehouses for alien tech and top secret labs. Along with his office, he gets a very large room/lab on Sub 4 to work on his "project" that he's discussed with Pete.

Said project is concerning the care of the chunk of TARDIS he received from Him. Pete said he'll be contacting off-planet allies to acquire some of the components and chemicals and such he will be needing. The rest he's hoping to be able to find on earth and in these warehouses. Pete has promised the complete cooperation of Torchwood.

Unfortunately, he has learned that UNIT was disbanded years ago in this world on the occasion of an alien assault that wiped out its higher chain of command. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart was among those casualties. She had apparently died saving some of her comrades. John takes some time to sit aside and mourn. She may not have been the girl he knew a long time ago, but she was still just as brave.

He looks at the table in his new lab, covered in bits and bobs all approved for his use in growing the TARDIS coral. Until all the materials are gathered, he can't do much more than keep her in a comfortable environment. If she was left to her devices to grow like this, it'd take nearly five hundred years just to get to the trimming and shaping stage and another half millennium to be ready to travel.

If everything goes right though, she should be ready in about fifteen years. A long time, but he can wait.


	13. Uncooperative

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few days after John starts his new job.

"Bloody piece of-" he slaps the uncooperative coffee maker. He swears loudly then looks around, hoping no one heard his outburst. Giving up, he plops the empty mug back down on the counter.

He's started his job at Torchwood, and he never guessed it would be so boring and tedious. He never guessed the amount of paperwork either. Really, all this technology, and they're still using up entire rain forests.

He looks at the little piece of paper taped to the cabinet above the infernal machine.

_If you use the last of the coffee, please make more!_

_~Management :-)_

Apparently some people can't read, so now he's stuck here with a coffee maker that won't make coffee. It's times like these that makes him wish his silly mostly human body didn't have to sleep so much, or require so much caffeine to stay focused in the mornings.

"Bit of trouble?" asks a familiar voice.

He turns to see Rose leaning on the doorframe. "Oh, y'know," he begins sheepishly, "Just trying to get this to make something useful," he scowls at it again. "Honestly, give me a Kulpan expresso machine any day," he grumbles.

Shaking her head and smiling, she moves forward and expertly fiddles with the cursed contraption.

The coffee maker begins spluttering out black liquid into the pot.

She turns back to him. "You're hopeless without me around," she says teasingly.

"Well, just give me a ring next time a malicious alien race attempts invade the planet," he replies, tone equally playful.

She grins, tongue captured between her teeth.


	14. The Mundane Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five days after the coffee conundrum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, posted the wrong chapter, it was supposed to go after this one. Sorry. But I mathed all the days and such.

Mundane. Ordinary, boring, average, nothing new. He always avoided the mundane, normal everyday life, out of fear of sheer boredom. Turns out, it's not so bad. That might just be the part human talking, but really, he's enjoying just sitting here.

Sitting here next to Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth, the most important woman who ever lived (maybe besides Donna) watching telly. He's been doing things like this for precisely 19 days, 17 hours, 23 minutes and 32 seconds. His time sense is still very accurate it seems, but it hurts to try to look at timelines. They are fogged and almost impossible to see. But really, just sitting here watching the telly.

Completely mundane. Nothing exciting. But he loves it.

Loves it even more than when they went on that mission to North America for Torchwood, chasing down rogue alien criminals trying to take refuge on Earth. Loves it more than running for their lives in a Sontaran battle ship. Loves it more than being Ambassadors for Earth on the densely forested planet of Terra Foraoise.

Why? He can't ask why, he's not sure. Not sure wether it's _Him_ or Donna or a mixture of both or just Rose's presence. Maybe all three, but there's no place he'd rather be.

This is it. This is home.


	15. Vroom! Vroom!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One week since contemplating the the mundanity of his life and finding it not so bad.

His lab partners have finally gotten him to work on that engine he promised to create for them.

"Fine," he agrees, "Tell me whenever you get something useable."

~~~~

"John!" says his supervisor cheerily as she enters the room, "Forget your paperwork today, someone else is going to do it for you."

He audibly sighs in relief.

"We have acquired a specific model of what we believe is a modifiable alien engine, and we'd like you to examine it," she adds.

He hops up just as cheerily. Anything to avoid this constant writing. His hands are almost numb from it today.

She walks with him to the lift. Once in it, she presses the sub 3 button and they wait for it to descend.

"Any idea what kind of engine?" he asks.

"One of our allies provided one in return for a favour we did for them. They said it would be reliable and is easy to modify to our purposes," she states as they exit the lift. They then walk into tech processing and research lab.

He spots the "engine" and his eyes widen. "Is that a Nikrazacan warp drive?" he asks with surprise.

She smiles a smug almost-sneer. "Yes. Yes it is."

"This could generate enough power daily for all of England!" he exclaims, rushing forward to examine it closely. With his screwdriver, he carefully removes a panel on its side to inspect the insides. He can immediately tell it is in prime condition. "They must have made this one specifically for you, it's in perfect condition. Never been used."

"Good, you can start work on it immediately. You know what we want?"

"I can get it to generate power easily, but it's going to need to be hooked up to the power grid in a very specific manner with a shutdown fail safe and backup," he says, nodding affirmation. That was in one of the few meetings he was forced to go to. Rose literally grabbed him and dragged him from the lab where he is setting up part of his "project."

"I'll just get on this right off." He begins detaching some wire while she watches curiously. There's a hissing sort sound like steam being released and something shifts inside the device. He then removes a large object (it looks like a simple black box) with a long glass tube running across the top of it. Setting it up on a table, he carefully removes the top part around the tube and begins pulling random thing from his pockets. He takes several of what look like vacuum tubes and eventually connects them to something inside the box.

"Do you mind?" he asks, stopping in annoyance.

She stops leaning over his shoulder.

He continues with attaching things. "This is going to be a while. Weeelll, More like all day. Possibly all week."

She nods and calls for a scientific supervisor and waits for one to arrive before leaving. The man sits across from him and occasionally fires off random questions, to which John replies with a short and very complicated lecture.

He might not mind working this week.


	16. A Name We Know and Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to start keeping track of time by the amount of days spent in Pete's world rather than saying how much time has passed between events so that it's all easier to keep track of. So, 28 days in Pete's World. (About two days after he began work on the engine)

"John!" complains Rose loudly from the other room.

"What?"

"You can't keep sonicking the cat!"

Said cat, which had wandered onto her windowsill every day for a week, had finally been adopted by Rose without her asking him if they could keep it.

"But what if it's an alien spy?"

She enters the room, cup of tea in each hand. "You've already looked it over three times. I don't think it's an alien."

He finally acquiesces, pocketing the sonic.

"Only been here two days and it's already being harassed!" she scolds as she hands him a mug.

"Have you named him yet?"

She makes a pleasantly surprised face. "It's a he?"

The cat rubs itself lovingly against Rose's leg.

"Yes, I scanned it, it's a he."

She makes a show of thinking, two fingers and a thumb gingerly stroking her chin. "I know!" she exclaims with a gleeful and mischievous look on her face.

"Going to name him Doctor?" he asks with a cheeky grin. He's become rather detached from that title.

She swats his arm playfully. "He's gonna be called Jack."

He groans and covers as much of his face as he can with his free hand. However, he quickly jumps back as the cat bites his bare foot, yelling at it.

"Harkness!"


	17. Turn the Heat Up and Get Ready to Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 44 days in Pete's World.

He feels cold and sighs, this lab is freezing. No more regulating his internal temperature then. It's a bit rubbish, some of the things humans lack. Perhaps he should complain, get them to turn the heat up. He looks up and around the lab. He's almost done with the generator he's making out of the warp drive.

He has an itch just between his shoulder blades too and wonders if he forgot to cut the tag off this shirt. He wiggles uncomfortably. Silly sensitive skin too.

The door slides open and shut again.

"I thought you said modification of this engine was going to take a week," gripes his supervisor upon entering the room, "It's been nearly three."

He ignores her for a moment.

"Are you listening to me?"

Eventually he finds a place to pause his work and turns to her. "It's a delicate job, I can't rush this. _Aaand_ I may have accidentally calculated that week without including sleep as a variable."

She huffs in annoyance. "Well hurry up, you're needed for a mission tomorrow." With that, she storms away.

He sighs and returns to work.

A mission tomorrow. He's looking forward to that, he likes working with Rose and the team, specifically Rose. He's been labeled a "scientist" and doesn't get to go out on missions very often. It must not be a very big or important assignment, since he's not getting briefed earlier.

Still. He's excited for it.


	18. Gathering resources,

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let there be action! 45 days in Pete's World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, you guys won't be expecting what I have in store for you...
> 
> Anyways... I was wondering what to write for days now, because like I said before, it's a lot more like improv writing than following anything planned, but then this struck. And now... Without further ado... READ ON!

John walked into the meeting room early and found only Jake. He nods to the blonde then goes straight for the coffee.

"Where's Rose?" he asks whilst adding several sugars to his mug.

"Getting everything together. They should be getting here soon."

He takes a seat to the right of the head of the table and Jake smirks.

Seven minutes later, the rest of the team begins trickling in. Julia, Alfred, Linda with an "I" and...

"J-" John barely kept from shouting out his name as the Captain entered the room.

He turns to John and strides up, taking his hand to shake it vigourously. "Captain Jack Harkness, you must be John Noble, Rose has told me all about you."

"Yeah! Yeah," he nods a little numbly. This is an odd turn of events. Guess Jack gets to Earth wether he and his TARDIS are there to help or not. He feels a twinge of sadness at his loss yet again, but keeps a smile on his face. It quickly passes.

"Only good things though," he says with a wink as he releases John's hand and finds a seat.

Finally Rose comes in and sits at the head of the table with a mission organiser and two supervisors. She touches his back as she goes by and smiles conspiratorially at him in passing.

She leans forward after sitting and whispers, "I got him transferred to our team after he relocated from Torchwood six."

"So," begins the organiser before John has a chance to reply, "The mission today is a trade for alien technology and chemicals for research purposes. John Noble here, as you know, does not go on many missions. This time, however, he's needed as a scientific advisor in order to acquire what we are looking for exactly. You will be expected to protect him at all costs, as his knowledge and skill in everything alien is unmatched."

Jack raises an eyebrow in John's direction, but he tries to ignore it. He can hardly help the smug smile on his face though, he _is_ a genius.

"You will all be expected to report to the training room in two hours for transport into orbit. Upon arriving on the ship, you will be taken to a larger transport on the dark side of the moon. We were very wary of this at first, but these are our most trusted allies, and they felt the need to keep the larger ship out of the way of Earth's radar, as to not alert anyone but Torchwood to their presence. Still, use caution and for all our sakes, be respectful John!"

He makes a face. "I'm always respectful, I have excellent diplomatic skills!"

This induces a round of laughs from his team, Jack, and even one of the supervisors.

John pouts.

Eventually, the meeting convenes and everyone goes to make their final preparations. When John exits the room, Pete pulls him off to the side.

"Listen, this is for your... coral thing, the trisilicate and bicarbonate or whatever. You said that they might have what you need, so we've arranged this trade specifically for you."

Pete hands him a small metal box.

"A tricanium shell and a hydrogen-tripirdonide quad fold lock. What's this then?" he exclaims upon taking it.

"I'm not supposed to tell you, sorry," he waves a hand when John tries to interrupt. "It's protocol, nothing I can do about it."

He puts the box in his pocket.

Pete nods wordlessly and moves off to do whatever it is he does all day. Probably paperwork.

John sighs and pats his pocket. He hopes it's not a weapon.

~~~~

_Two hours later_

The team stands on the teleport pad in the training room, awaiting pickup.

He's standing next to Rose and Jack, Jake and everyone in formation behind him.

"Ready?" asks Rose as she slips his hand into his.

John nods, nerves in his gut settling somewhat at her reassuring grasp.

Jack elbows him flirtatiously. "You'll be fine, you got me here, don'tcha?"

Jake snickers, Rose stifles a laugh and Linda and Julia try to hide their smiles. John rolls his eyes. How did Jack make that sound so much like innuendo?

Just then the transmat activates and the next thing he knows, he falling forward. Jack catches him before he falls far though. He catches his feet quickly and Jack gives him a smile before letting him go. He turns to Rose to find her largely unaffected. "I'm really missing my superior Time Lord biology," he mutters.

"What's a Time Lord?" asks Jack as they all step down from the platform.

"Just some old fancy not important alien that he's not anymore," says Rose before he can answer. He scowls at her.

"Not anymore?" he asks.

"Part human now, he is. Bit useless sometimes. Well, most of the time," she sort of clarifies. 

"Oi!" he gripes.

"Welcome Earthlings," greets a slightly hissing but melodic voice and they all turn to face their welcoming committee.

John, Rose, and Jack, all familiar with a multitude of alien customs, step forward and bow deeply. The other three follow their example.

"Thank you for your hospitality," replies Rose as they rise.

The alien, a hairless green and red scaled bipedal reptile, smiles warmly and gestures for them to follow him. "This way friends."

They are all brought through the bridge, a rather spacious place for such a small ship, into a meeting room and are offered refreshments. "It will be a short journey, please, rest," he says.

They nod, saying their thanks, and take seats.

"Well," says John, "It'll be about a 3.14 hour trip, going faster than the speed of light. It's always 3.14, no matter the distance."

Jack nods. "How'd ya know that?"

He taps his temple. "Alien expert."

He nods, the look he's giving John highly salacious.

Great. 3.14 hours.

~~~~

"We are coming out of the quantum tunnel, docking will take place soon. If you will join us," says the ship's Commander, bowing his head respectfully.

They group rises and follows him out of the room. Taking places on the bridge, they watch the mobile cargo station slide into view.

"Please respond Base Thirteen," requests the comms officer into the communications panel. He then turns to the Commander. "Sir, we are receiving no response."

"Dock anyways. You know how being close to a star can interfere to telecommunications. Even on the dark side of a planet or moon. I keep pressing command to remedy this," he orders.

They ship moves to below the station, nose pointed up, and a docking tunnel moves into place, locking onto the ship.

"Follow please," he says gesturing to the team. "Also, Fvördvik, have a security detail meet me by cargo three."

"Yessir."

The exit the bridge. Whilst walking through the halls, there is a heavy silence, and John feels as if something bad is going to happen. He can tell the Commander thinks so as well, the spines on his neck are standing up and his teeth are bared in agitation.

Finally they reach cargo three and he hands them all small metal disks, attaching one to his own uniform. John sees the security has already arrived.

"What are these?" asks Jake.

"They will nullify the magnetic pull of the floor," he tells them. "Gravity is lowered in this room in order to more easily move heavy cargo, we use the magnetic pull to keep them in place instead. Watch your step, gravity shifts as well. Think of it as this, the crates are magnetised to the wall in the hall, but magnetised to the floor in the room."

The door opens and the guards enter first, grabbing hold of the doorframe and stepping forward, leaning as they enter and flawlessly transitioning from floor to wall. Or what is now to them, from wall to floor. They rest follow, the humans and part human not managing too flawlessly, but the friendly aliens help guide them through it.

They stride across the room, coming to a smaller door near the the giant one meant for moving the crates.

A security officer steps forward and swipes a pass through a locking mechanism and steps back as the door opens. Then all of their eyes widen and the Commander yells, "Get down!"

John stands there, stunned, staring at the alien through the doorway.

They can't be here. They just can't.

"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EX-TER-MI-NATE!"


	19. the hard way.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Rose gather the resources they need, but they have to get them the hard way.
> 
> Continuation of "Gathering Resources"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bunch of alien names coming up, and I'd like them to be able to be pronounced in case anyone might have trouble saying them. Things like that can slow stuff down... So, yeah, here, this might help:
> 
>  **Shirklisies** \- is pronounced Shirk•lie•sees  
>  **Schvardvic** \- is pronounced something like Shard•Vic try and add a bit of V after the "sh".  
>  **Dracter** \- is pronounced how it looks, ck sound.  
>  **Zedfilictash** \- is pronounced Zed•fill•lick•tash.
> 
> Yep. Alien names.

"EXTERMINATE!" the Dalek aims its gunstick.

John gets shoved aside as someone dives forward and closes the door, locking it securely.

_CLANG!_

"Is that what I think it is?" cries Julia.

"Yes. Yes it is."

Jack tries to help Rose get the team in order.

John turns to the Commander. "Do you have any idea what they are doing on board, Commander..."

"Shirklisies."

"Okay, Shirklisies, we really need the thing we came here to trade though."

"I don't think we'll be able to make it through those Daleks."

"Where are the chemicals?" he demands.

"In the laboratory, but-"

He interrupts. "Then we need to get there. Now!"

"We can't go in there!" the Commander yells back.

"Then I can't give you what we came to trade."

He stiffens, baring his fangs and hissing. Then he turns his energy weapon upwards, aiming it at John. "Give it to me then, and we will let you leave."

"You're not getting it!"

"Then what's to stop me killing you and taking it?"

Now there's yelling, guns are raised, surrenders demanded.

"Wait a moment!" says John.

No one stops.

"QUIET!"

Everyone stops.

"Listen, you can't kill me and take it, I don't actually have it," he raises his hands in a submissive gesture. "It was left on Earth, Torchwood was a bit iffy about the main ship being in hiding and decided we would leave it behind. We don't have it."

If the team knows differently, they don't say, which is good. This moment means life or death for a lot of people.

Finally the Commander lowers his gun. "Then we will bring you to the lab, you will take what you need, and then you _will_ give us what we seek," he commands.

Everyone else lowers theirs, but tension remains high.

"What do we do now?" asks Linda

"We'll split up. Schvardvic, Dracter, Zedfilictash, you must get to the control room, activate the self-destruct."

"While we're still on it?" asks Jack incredulously.

"As long as you find what you're looking for, we should get there and back in about ten minutes, accounting for instances of trouble," says Shirklisies.

"We will go, Commander, but what of the Daleks? Our energy weapons are barely sufficient."

"Aim for the eyestalk, it's their weak point. Your blasters will be good enough for that," he advises.

_THUNK!_

"Get into position, prepare to open that door!"

The reptiles take a formation, three kneeling in the front, three standing behind them. One positions himself by the door, ready to unlock it and jump out of the way.

EXTERMINATE!

The Torchwood team stands to the side, weapons ready regardless.

The door slides open. "EXTERMINATE!"

The sound of energy weapons discharging fills the air before the Dalek can fire.

"EXTER- HELP! MY VISION IS IMPAIRED! I CANNOT SEE, I CAN-"

Flailing its only two extremities, it screams as it finally blows up.

They all stare at the burning, mutilated blob sitting upon the broken shell.

"All that for only one? How are we going to take them if we split up?" asks Linda.

"Hmmm. I assume you will be able to handle these weapons?" asks Shirklisies, holding his out for them to see.

The whole team murmurs agreement except John, who stares at the weapon with distaste. Meanwhile, one of the guards tosses his gun to Jake, who is standing closest, and goes to a metal locker on the wall, opening it with a spoken code in its alien language. He then empties the locker, handing out guns and taking spares for himself and his crew. John refuses to take one, raising frills that are mostly equivalent to human eyebrows, but no one comments.

"Now then, you three and you two, you will head for the control room. The rest of us will go to the lab."

"Five and eight?"

"Five and seven, your scientific advisor refuses to take one," Shirklisies hands Rose and handgun. "In case he changes his mind," he tells her. Turning to the group of five he says, "You'll leave shortly after us, go straight there and activate the self-destruct as soon as you reach it."

"Can't you bring in more guards?" Jack asks.

"We'll warn the ship, but there's not many men to spare, so they must stay and be prepared to defend it while we perform our task."

After checking over all the weapons and equipment one more time, notifying the bridge of the cargo cruiser of their problem and plan, Rose peers around the corner. Finding the hall empty, she signals the advance.

Five people and two lizards quietly exit the cargo bay, sneaking along the massive corridor. Upon reaching the end, Shirklisies swipes the security card across a panel and the door opens. No jump-scares this time though, as the hall through the door is devoid of life, but not entirely empty. Fighting took place here, black marks scar the walls and lifeless, uninjured bodies lie across the floor. The reptile's scaly face is contorted, pained at the losses of his people.

He recovers. "This way," he tells them in a whisper, gesturing for them to follow.

A sound comes from behind them.

"MOVEMENT DETECTED. INVESTIGATE."

"Quickly!" he hisses. They flee the hall.

He takes a moment to radio the others. "Daleks in the exit hall, do not proceed yet."

Confirmation is heard on the other end and they move forward. After some walking, they come to a ladder and ascend.

"The laboratories are on this level, we'll con-"

"EXTERMINATE!"

John is still on the floor below, but he can hear shuffling of feet as the group turns to face the threat above. Linda speeds up her climbing to make it, but then pauses, blocking him from continuing, but looking at what's happening above.

"Move!" he orders her.

She waves him away. "No, our orders are to keep you safe, stay down!"

The discharging of weapons ensues.

"The eyestalk!" He hears Rose yell, then he recognises the unique sound of a gunstick firing. He looks up in terror as Linda yells out, and watches as she falls from the ladder. He grips the rungs and holds himself as close to the metal as he can. Poor Linda falls past him as an explosion rings out above him.

"EXTERMINATE!"

His single heart is pounding hard as Daleks move down the hall towards him on this level. Strong hands grab hold of him and pull him up. He half climbs and half gets yanked upwards until he's all the way up and a cover is slammed down over the ladder and locked into place.

He looks into the face of Jack and Commander Shirklisies, and they release their grips on his arms.

"Where are we going next?" Rose asks, face determined, but flushed from the intensity of everything that's happening.

"This way."

The swift pace gets them to the lab quickly when a female computerised voice echoes through the corridors, followed by an alarm.

**Self-Destruct Activated, Detonation in 10 minutes.**

"Here!"

The security officer steps forward and swipes a key card over a device and the door opens.

"EXTERMINATE!"

The officer cries out as a gunstick blast hits him and he falls to the floor dead.

"Defensive positions!" The team and Commander fall back and regroup, taking formation as the Dalek exits the lab.

"Open fire!"

John covers his ears and hits the deck as the blasters blast away and the Dalek screams and explodes.

**Self-Destruct in 9 minutes.**

"Hurry! Find what you're looking for!"

John rushes into the room and searches among the jars and stopped beakers, scanning things with his sonic. Finally coming across what he needs, he grabs it and shoves it into his pocket. "I got it!"

"Commander!" Shirklisies' commas device starts up, "Commander we're pinned! We're surrounded, they're getting into the r-" Shsshhhhhh...

Static replaces his voice and Shirklisies curses loudly.

**Self-Destruct in 7 minutes.**

The group rushes from the room. They make it back to the ladder they came up before, but hear Daleks screaming their protests below, so the team is led through a different route.

"Down!" Jack holds the hatch in place as everyone descends. Then he climbs down after them, letting the trap door slam shut.

**Self-Destruct in 5 minutes.**

"Hurry!" he calls again and they break into a sprint. They make it back to the corridor connecting the ship to the station.

**Self-Destruct in 3 minutes.**

They make it to the ship's cargo bay and rush into the room, caring nothing of the lighter gravity.

"Commander to the bridge, get out of here now!"

The ship's engines rumble instantly and they detach from the station, quickly pulling away from it. A shockwave is felt, making the whole craft shudder as the station behind them explodes, but no sound is heard. The group collapses, lost in their own thoughts as the ship jumps into warp speed.

Eventually Shirklisies rises. "Let us go get some rest."

~~~~

The six of them, John, Jack, Rose, Julia, Jake, and Shirklisies stand in the training room with a multitude of other people wandering around, fetching things, and simply staring at the alien in the middle of the room. Rose's team are keeping everyone else at bay as John pretends to go fetch the box. Once out of sight he slips the small box from his pocket.

"This had better be worth it," he mumbles. He waits five minutes and thirteen seconds before going back into the training room.

Commander Shirklisies stands on the transmat platform. John goes to join him, handing him the box.

"Do you still have your concoction?"

John takes the small glass container from his pocket and shakes it a bit.

Shirklisies frowns at it. "Six of my men died because of this."

"You would've had to risk that mission anyways, the Daleks had entirely infested that station."

He instantly bites back with his words. "If not for that mission, we could've summoned the armada stealthily and driven them out. But no, we had to go in for the sake of your precious phial." His frills and spines are sticking out again in a sign of aggressiveness.

"You could've turned back."

"We would've risked losing two allies without this, and you threatened to keep it from us." He tightens the grip on the box. "You've caused much needless destruction. We have lost lives, relations, and money." The little spines on his head and neck flatten. Still upset, but not angry. "We will not, however, hold these actions against the entirety of your species. We have seen much, and still know there is goodness to be found in the human race. Now if you will excuse me, I must return to my people."

John nods and steps off the platform. "Thank you, and I'm sorry."

The Commander does not reply as the transmat activates and he disappears. Rose steps forward and takes his hand. He slides the vial back into his pocket.

He really hopes this was worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eep! I'm sorry, my muse made me write it!


	20. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the proper conditions, the TARDIS can finally begin to grow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 48 days in Pete's World.

Between the vial of chemicals and the the soil acquired from the Grand Jungle of Niquoier VI (Almost identical in composition to Gallifreyan soil and will be with this addition), he'll be able to place the TARDIS is it in a few days.

After nearly 50 days, he's managed to collect everything she'll be needing faster than he expected he could with the absolute, unwavering assistance from Torchwood and it's allies. Some of them came at a great sacrifice, but that doesn't cross his mind at the moment.

At the moment, he's just standing there, watching the TARDIS coral settle. John has nine days in a row off for this purpose, sanctioned by Pete (Only Pete, Jackie, Rose, and himself know about the coral, no one else from Torchwood does), so that he can look after it. It's a she. Of course she's a she. She's really complain-y actually, very demanding. 

She's chiming away in the very large greenhouse-like structure constructed with the ever durable Reinforced Midiaran Plex-Steel (rights reserved) and Vinvoci glass. The soil composition is very specific, something he's calculated very, very carefully, to put her in when she's ready. Two more days until then, at which point he can shatterfry the plasmic shell and modify the dimensional stabiliser to a foldback harmonic of 36.3, essentially accelerating the growth by the power of fifty-nine. At that rate, as long as there are no complications, she'll be ready for shaping in eight years and four months, and flight in another five and a half years. He sighs.

He knows he can survive that long without going insane. He'll manage.... Hopefully.


	21. Uniformity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue jeans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 60 days in Pete's World.

"John!" snaps his supervisor as she walks into the room.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'll almost done with this thing. Just some finishing touches."

"What are you wearing?" she demands.

"Trousers," he deadpans.

As it turns out, he really likes jeans. Mostly because Rose likes seeing him in them. He's started wearing them to work, despite management's complaints. It's not like they can fire him, so he ignores them for the most part.  
It makes Rose giggle every time they pass by too. Definitely worth it, and they're comfortable.

She scolds him sharply. "There is a uniform that is supposed to be worn!"

"I. Am. Working. Y'mind?"

"I expect you to wear that uniform!"

He shakes his head as he slides out from under the engine. "It's ready to be installed."

The joyless woman somehow perks up considerably.

"Good. You can begin immediately. Since you promised it to be done much sooner, you need to make up for lost time."

He shakes his head. "It's almost 20:00, I'm not going to start now."

She huffs at him. "Fine. First thing tomorrow."

He nods tiredly and she leaves.

"Stupid human sleepiness, she's going to work me to death," he mumbles to himself.

The door opens again and he turns to tell his supervisor off, but spots someone else instead. "Rose!"

She smiles brightly. "Ready to go home?"

This time when he nods, it's with an enthusiastic grin.


	22. New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 92 days in Pete's World.

"It's done!" John called out and the Torchwood team cheered.

That was yesterday when he announced some good news. After ages of work, arguments over use, passing through restrictions, putting in place political and electrical fail safes, it's ready to be activated. The engine is being activated today, actually, with John to do the honors and the team to monitor.

If this works... It means clean, reliable energy for the whole of Britain.

His supervisor prepared a speech and everything, praising John's work (she still hates him though) and the Torchwood team's work (practically nothing) and her own work (actually nothing).

He zoned out it the first three minutes and has been casting glances Rose's way, making eye contact and smiling occasionally.

Suddenly she's nodding towards the podium and he turns his attention forward with a loud "What?"

There are some laughs and the ornery woman repeats, "If you could now power up the device."

He rises from his seat and moves forward. With a flourish, he flips a very important looking lever and the lights brighten.

The whole audience, civilians, military advisors, public officials, news crews (broadcasting live), they all hold their breath. Eventually, Jake stands solemnly, his face blank.

A beat passes. Then another.

Suddenly he smiles. "It worked!"

Roaring cheers fill the entire building and the whole country as a new era dawns for them.

John meets Rose's eyes again. There's only pride in her eyes. He can't help but beam back at her.


	23. I got it, I got it, I got it! I don't got it... Oh, Wait!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John has a moment of panic, but everything turns out okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 131 days in Pete's World.

John hums as he constructs a small device. He's thinking that if he could put this in the soil that the TARDIS is in, it would help it grow better. The only problem was acquiring the proper parts, we he has. It should increase the growth rate by 50%, effectively cutting off years. That might bring it to about seven years of growth, give or take. It would also cut the shaping time by more than half, as it would grow in a certain way more similar to the shape it actually needs to be which means less trimming.

He sorts through his pile of gizmos and freezes. He's missing something. He smacks his head several times trying to figure out what. He looks at the device again, carefully examines it, then turns back to the pile. Then it hits him.

He needs a thin strip of highly conductive metal with a very rare atomic structure, and he doesn't have one! He searches through all the loose ends he has collected again and again. How could he have forgotten such an important piece? He curses his forgetful human-ness. Great, he's ruined everything.

Wait a moment... He searches fanatically through his pocket for something. Finally he pulls what he was searching for from it. The fuse! From the pipe bomb he disarmed on his first day at Torchwood! An abundant metal on Ditrius II!

Footsteps enter the greenhouse and Rose joins him next to the workbench.

"Everything all right?" she asks.

He nods. "Right as rain. Wellll, if rain is right that is. Rain could be wrong sometimes."

He notices the looks she's giving him.

"Yeah, it's all right," he sighs quietly and contentedly.

She wraps her arms around his waist and watches him work.

Couldn't be more right.


	24. Complain, Complain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The TARDIS coral starts griping and John can't figure out what's wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 170 days in Pete's World.

"How are you feeling?" asks Rose as she accompanies him on his trip out to the greenhouse for the third time that morning.

John just sighs through his nose. "Fine."

"Is she alright?" she inquires, "She fussing about something."

He nods slowly and looks around the greenhouse as they enter. There's a collection of herbs and flowers grown by Jackie, but it's mostly dominated by the coral.

"I know," he affirms, "I just don't know what she's on about. The soil's fine, the air's fine, the temperature's fine. I'm at a loss."

Rose giggles slightly.

He furrows his brows as he turns to her. "What?"

She covers her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle them. The TARDIS chimes loudly.

"What?" he demands as he looks between the two of them.

Finally she just laughs and the coral seems to giggle with her in his head. It's like everyone's conspiring against him. "What?" he demands for the final time.

She just shakes her head and moves past him. Reaching out, she pets the coral.

It happily purrs.

"She just wants some attention. She's bored in here, ignored all day, every day."

He stands there stupidly for a moment. Finally he says, "Oh."

They both giggle at him again before he joins her near the coral.

"I love you," he says, directing the words towards them both.


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 181 days in Pete's World.

Rose walks into his lab and John looks up.

"Hey," he says lightly as he stands.

"Hey," she says. giving him a hug and asks, "Watcha workin' on? Been in here tinkering with it for weeks."

"Eh, putting it simply, it's a temperature stabaliser."

Rose smiles when he does that. Ever since he became part human, he's often been forgoing the technical jargon. He thinks she likes it since she never understood his ramblings to begin with.

"What's it for?"

She brushes up against him and he suppresses a shiver.

"For the greenhouse. It'll raise the temperature by three point two eight nine degrees from the average condition and keep it there. Should assist in its growth."

"You keep trying to make it grow faster," she notes, "I don't mind waiting."

"But Rose!" he exclaims in a quiet voice as he turns to her, "I hate being tethered to one spot all the time!"

She cocks her head to the side, then sweeps him up in a hug that he returns forcefully, almost desperately.

"I'll see if I can't get you included in more missions," she tells him softly, "Maybe you won't be so bored then."

He smiles enthusiastically. "That'd be brilliant!"

She smiles back before giving him a chaste kiss and walking out of the lab.

He stands there smiling just a while longer before shaking his head swiftly to clear it and gets back to work.


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 204 days in Pete's World.

"John!" Rose calls.

He hops up from his favourite armchair and joins her in the kitchen. She's making them tea.

"Yeah?"

She turns to him and smiles. "I got you approved for missions. Changed your status from scientist to field scientist. Supervisors were against about it, but we got it pulled through. Better thank Jake and Jack next time you see them."

He beams at her before sweeping her up in a hug and pressing his lips to hers. They enjoy each other's embrace for a moment longer before he pulls back again.

"I'll be sure to," he exclaims.

She lets go and turns back to the tea, expertly mixing sugar and milk just the way he likes it.

"We're going to North America tomorrow, the techs have picked up some strange readings in Nevada. We believe there's some alien activity there."

"Nevada?"

Rose smiles as she hands him his mug. "Maybe we could visit Las Vegas while we're there!" she says excitedly.

He laughs. "Maybe." Suddenly she makes an odd face.

"What?" he asks, hoping he hadn't done anything wrong.

"I wonder what kind of trouble Jack would be," she says and they look at each other for a moment. Then they burst out laughing.


End file.
